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Battle Log Commentary & You
Battle Log Commentary & You
One of my main contributions to this forum, the Battle Logs Sub-forum, has recently developed a laziness for commentary, or maybe doesn't find it necessary. And I made this "rant" to Vance on the PokéCommunity Shoddy Server, with few people there. Which, really, wasn't fair at all. I was basically fueling my frustration about it onto him, my apologies for that, Vance.
Anyway, it has been overall developing into multiple battle logs with a severe lack of commentary. Many of which I reject and tell the member to add more while others I've approved shamelessly due to so much effort into the other aspects of the battle log. I wanted to use this blog entry to raise awareness how important the commentary really is, or why you shouldn't underestimate it, or barely sum it up after twelve turns. Anything I can do to improve the battle logs, is what I'm all for.
In one of the battle logs I approved with a lack of commentary, sims796 (who I respect) said
Quote:
Originally Posted by sims796
Y'know what I like about this log? No commentary EVERY MOVE. I hate that. You don't have to put your two cents when nothing worthwhile pops up. Happens far too often, glad you left something for us readers to figure out. We aren't noobs, ya don't need to spell out every turn. That was a huge plus.
In a battle, you enter with a six Pocket Monster team, your knowledge of the game, and some concoction of a strategy in an effort to win. With numerous variables that change the course to execute it. When you encounter a thrilling and fantastic battle that's worth a person's time to sit down and enjoy your wild experience, what do you want to accomplish? A battle log isn't supposed to do the talking. A wall of text isn't supposed to be the leader in a story. A battle log is not something you slap some pretty format to and let the reader figure things out. It's a story, and the battler (or both participants) should be the one talking. Imagine it this way, say you're at camp and you encounter a bear, you barely escape a near death experience! You soon find a cave for the night and record what happened. When you get back to the camp sight, are you going to A) hand the paper around with a couple of mumblings like "Oh, that was a huge branch" (battle logger translation: Even more hax against me!) or are you B) sit down and explain your breathtaking experience?
Here's the thing that erks me. In a battle log, as I said earlier, you have a team with a strategy. Your reader does not know how you build your team, how you gameplan during matches, how you react compared to others, how you think, and what your overall knowledge is of the game.
Some points and selections in a battle, like sims pointed out, are completely self-explanatory. You know what you can do here, rather than be all goo goo ga ga "I thunderbolted the Gyarados for that 4x weakness. :F"? Focus the reader's attention to what you're thinking about the overall match. In a battle, you can't win without some sort of thought process. If you're playing an entire match on complete instinct you either A) learned that instinct from something or somewhere, explain it or B) what the hell are you thinking presenting this.
In a battle log, you should not let this bland, boring, string of mini-turns tell the reader what's going on. You are the person who should be telling the story with commentary. Focusing on commentary rather than log is an enormous plus.
Also, readers, if you're too lazy (Because that's really what it is, isn't it?) to read the commentary, you have no right to criticize or critique someone's battle log. Just getting that out there, because someone put in the time & effort to entertain you and you skip arguably the areas of most effort? If you don't have the time, read all of it until a certain point instead of jamming it all in and skim. You do not skim battle logs readers. :|
Q & A
Common questions and answers. If you have any, comment and I'll add it here.- I have a turn where the exact thing happened before, why should I comment?
- Do I have to comment on every single turn?
- What should I do if I lack commentary and can't think of anything to put?
- What if I'm tired, and have the surge to finish, can't I just cut if down and press submit?
Moral of this entire entry
If I haven't said it or drilled this overall point into your head enough."Less log, more commentary." I hope I got that point across. You are supposed to give the insight into your mindset, strategy, process, etc. Sounds like too much work, or too lazy to read this entry? Stop complaining and put in the effort, you can save it in your PMs if you get tired or need a break.
Thanks for reading,
BeachBoy
BeachBoy
Total Comments 2
Comments
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Posted October 13th, 2008 at 7:22 AM by Aurafire
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Thanks, Aurafire.
Sounds good to me, first battle logs are fun. (Obligatory "it was my first" if you mess up on anything, so have fun with it.) Read my tips stickie and or send it to me via PM, I'll help ya out. And check back here for commentary clarification if you're ever wondering about that again in the future. XD;Posted October 13th, 2008 at 8:06 AM by BeachBoy


